BE PATIENT: India says it is still negotiating with France’s Dassault on the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program. “The proposal will be considered further after the Contract Negotiations Committee concludes its deliberations and submits its report,” Defense Minister A.K. Antony said in parliament Aug. 8. Dassault is expected to sign the Indian air force’s biggest-ever contract, worth more than $15 billion, to supply 126 Rafale fighters. India intends to induct the first squadron of 18 MMRCAs into its air force by 2016.
LAS VEGAS — Northrop Grumman has completed close-formation flight tests with two RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft as it moves closer to an autonomous high-altitude aerial refueling demonstration for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) under the KQ-X program. Two NASA-owned Global Hawks completed the flights on June 30, with the receiver ahead of the tanker in a reversal of normal hose-and-drogue aerial refueling.
LAS VEGAS — After flying an unmanned aircraft in a wind tunnel for more than 48 hr. by beaming laser power to the vehicle, Lockheed Martin has conducted outdoor flights to test the concept in an operational environment. The power-beaming system developed by LaserMotive was used with a Stalker hand-launched, electrically powered small UAV produced by Lockheed’s Skunk Works for use by special operations forces. The power system uses a ground-based laser transmitter, lightweight photovoltaic receiver and onboard power management hardware on the UAV.
LAS VEGAS — Boeing is to demonstrate advanced flight controls for the AH-64D Apache and CH-47F Chinook under Phase 2 of the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate’s advanced vehicle management system (AVMS) program. Boeing was selected over AVMS Phase 1 competitor Sikorsky for the $18 million contract, which will cover more than 100 hr. of flight testing in a modified H-6 helicopter as well as the AH-64 and CH-47.
LOS ANGELES — Boeing’s X-48C blended wing body (BWB) unmanned research aircraft flew for the first time from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Aug. 7.
The U.S. Navy wants to design better destroyer bows to make the ships more hydrodynamic. The efforts are meant, among other things, to reduce operational life-cycle costs for the ships, which are becoming the main component of the service’s — and nation’s — ballistic missile defense (BMD) strategy, especially in the international arena. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) researchers recently completed two weeks of hydrodynamics testing to optimize the size and shape of bow bulbs aboard DDG 51-class ships.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has made progress improving its materiel distribution processes, though there is still room for improvement, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO had previously identified Defense Department supply chain management as a “high-risk area, with materiel distribution as one focus area for improvement.” The congressional auditors have recommended improvements for decades, particularly when it comes to the distribution of materiel to personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil — Indonesia’s defense ministry is impressed with the capabilities of the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, but is concerned about the price. The secretary defense of Indonesia, Air Marshal Eris Herryanto, says the ministry is evaluating the merits of ordering the Boeing Apache versus the Eurocopter Tiger. He says the Apache has great capability and is very technologically advanced, but cost is an issue.
The Senate’s defense spending bill takes an $8 billion wartime budget request for procurement and raises it $2.2 billion, using half of that increase to buy more aircraft for the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. The rest is for Guard and Reserve equipment. The fiscal 2013 request in the Overseas and Contingency Operations (OCO) budget for Guard equipment was zero, and House appropriators left it there.
SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil — Indonesia’s ministry of defense expects that South Korea will buy Indonesian-built CN-235 military transports to satisfy offset requirements relating to Indonesia’s decision to buy T-50 jet trainers from Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI). Indonesia has ordered 16 T-50s, and the first will be delivered next year, according to the Indonesian secretary general of defense, Air Marshal Eris Herryanto.
LAS VEGAS — Small-UAV maker MLB has teamed with industry leader AAI to build and fly a long-endurance, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL), unmanned aircraft for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The company’s tailsitter V-Bat, which combines shrouded-fan VTOL with fixed-wing endurance, has been selected for a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award. MLB will build and flight test a version of the vehicle with an 8-ft. wingspan, 10-hr. endurance, 55-lb. gross takeoff weight, and 70-mph cruise speed.
The Pentagon’s newest missile range instrumentation ship — the T-AGM-25 USNS Howard O. Lorenzen, which includes the Cobra Judy Replacement (CJR) radar system — recently started at-sea testing off Port Canaveral, Fla., as part of its yearlong integration and test phase. Lorenzen will replace USNS Observation Island (T-AGM 23) in 2014, whose mission is to provide dual-band radar data in support of ballistic missile treaty verification.
MDA CHIEF: President Obama has nominated U.S. Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) James D. Syring for appointment to the rank of vice admiral and assignment as director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Syring is currently serving as program executive officer for Integrated Warfare Systems at Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington. Syring will have to be confirmed by the Senate. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the nomination Aug. 6.
SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil — Indonesia’s government aims to pass a law this year outlining offset and industrial cooperation requirements for foreign defense companies selling equipment to Indonesia. The country’s secretary general of defense, Air Marshal Eris Herryanto, says defense ministry policy already requires that foreign companies provide offsets. However, “we will put it into a bill.” He says the legislation is due to pass parliament this year.
LUCKY LUKE: Luke AFB , Ariz., will be the site of the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A Lightning II pilot training center, including for foreign militaries, the service says. The base will receive 72 Joint Strike Fighters to comprise three squadrons. The selection follows a hotly contested, three-year competition. Aircraft will begin to arrive from late 2013 to mid-2014, although the exact timing will depend on production schedules.
U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND GATR Technologies Inc., Huntsville, Ala., is being awarded a $37,000,000 single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the GATR inflatable antenna, components, technical support, and training in support of U.S. Special Operations Command. The anticipated period of performance is not to exceed five years. The place of performance is Huntsville. U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill AFB, Fla., is the contracting activity (H92222-12-D-0016).
NEW DELHI — The Indian navy has delayed by another six months a tender to buy 16 multi-role helicopters, even as it plans to issue another request for proposals to procure more than 75 similar aircraft, a senior defense ministry official says. The defense ministry official didn’t give any reasons for delaying the tender, which was initially released in September 2008. NH Industries (NHI) with its NH-90 and Sikorsky with its S-70 have bid for the program, which could expand by an additional 44 units and reach $1 billion.
Indonesia’s air force is aiming to take delivery of its first eight Embraer Super Tucano light attack aircraft by year’s end. Embraer held a delivery ceremony Aug. 6 at the Super Tucano assembly plant in Gaviao Peixoto, for the first four aircraft. Embraer already has delivered Super Tucanos to the Brazilian air force and other customers, but the Indonesian air force is the first customer for the type in the Asia-Pacific region.
